We went to The Olympic National Park in the spring of 2002, using a borrowed house as our base of operations. We flew into Portland, where Paul, our son, on spring break, picked us up. The drive from Portland to Olympia was uneventful. At Olympia we picked up US101 and the drive became much more scenic. We followed the road along the edge of the Hood Canal until we slid inland, nearing Port Townsend. We settled in after grocery shopping, enjoying the changeable weather. It seemed that each morning would be foggy. Then the sun would break out for part of the afternoon. Finally, the clouds and fog would return. The main day that broke this pattern was the day it rained all day. But that was the day we went to the rain forest. So I guess it was supposed to be that way.
The first day we explored Port Townsend. We arrived during the Victorian Days festival. All of the merchants were gyving away clues to the cause of the disappearance of the towns "Mayor." He was thought to have been murdered by either a brother or a rival. The townspeople were dressed in Victorian clothing and were acting the part of the principals in the drama or melodrama. There would be a meeting on Sunday afternoon at the museum to unveil whodunit. Maggie entered the contest but didn't even enter a vote. We walked around the town noting the various shops and restaurants. The town is on the Hood Canal, an arm of the Pu get Sound. The town retains its Victorian character, as do the older houses. The periphery is less modern, with a big box store or two.
We went to Fort Warden State Park, looking for the museum. The military aspects of the fort were apparent, but the museum was closed. There was a maritime/geological museum that had just opened for the summer out on the point by the lighthouse. It was interesting and the docents were anxious to tell you everything about the geology and the ecology of the area. Sometimes too eager. The area, of course, had been ground by glaciers, which did most of the shaping of the terrain. We were too far west for the Cascade Range's volcanos to have much effect on the ground. The lighthouse was closed, so we did not venture out there. But we did return to the chapel that night for a musical session consisting of folk music and Native American music intertwined.
The next day we hiked the Dungeness Spit. The spit is a protrusion of sand and gravel that is about 4 miles long and 100 yards wide at its widest. It was placed there where the Dungeness River and the currents of the Dungeness Bay meet. The water is also disrupted by flows into and around Sequim Bay. The other feature of the spit is that the center 40 yards or so are covered with driftwood. The driftwood is piled about 5 feet high in some places. While the spit is generally flat (no hills, you can get a decent view by climbing up the narrow hump in the center. You can see Canada across the sound on the way out and you can get a good view of the ever changing clouds on the Olympics on your way back. There is a lighthouse at the end of the spit, but it is not always open for tours.
The road to the trail takes you through the farmlands of Sequim and, finally, to a highly wooded area where there is an interpretive kiosk for the trail. The trail descends through the woods, since it starts of a bluff overlooking the sound. You see the flatness of the spit once you get to the base. The walk on the spit is uneventful because the scenery is unchanging. Aside from scattered wildflowers, only one tree grows on the spit. You see and hear water and an occasional boat going by. You see driftwood. You see other hikers. The best view occurs when you look up at the Olympics. But you get a feeling of solitude and quiet very quickly. And I expect that being on the spit during a storm would be quite an experience!
Knowing that the lighthouse was closed, we only walked halfway out on the spit before turning around. The hike was very interesting but the views were not sustaining our enthusiasm like it would on later hikes. The flatness was monotonous. We found a restaurant for a late lunch in Sequim and then returned to the house to relax.
The next part of the trip took us to the Pacific Coast where we walked on the beach and took a hike in the rain forest. We stayed in Forks, a small town just off the coast. one of the highlights of the drive was going by Lake Crescent. The lake, at near sea level, is surrounded by mountains that rise up about 5000 feet. The water in the lake is clear and calm. While the lake was not on our itinerary as a major stop, it will be on our next trip to the Olympic Peninsula.
The town of La Push sits on the beach. It is the center of an Indian Reservation and contains a store or two and a lodge for tourists. But the cabins at the lodge were mostly closed and empty in the springtime. We explored La Push a little and then got lunch. There was not much to see. We then drove to Rialto Beach.
Rialto Beach Is long and sandy with a few haystacks and other rock formations along the shore. The beach is about 100 yards wide and the inland side is choked with driftwood. Big pieces of driftwood. We had to wind around entire trees than had been blown down and then were washed into the ocean before they became driftwood. The driftwood was very extensive. And then the shoreline rose into wooded hills which seemed impenetrable. We did not venture in that direction.
We were fortunate in that we arrived at the beach when the tide was out near its minimum. The rocks that were low enough to climb on provided excellent tide pools. The best tide pools were about a mile and a half down the beach at hole-in-the-rock. The hole was a natural bridge that had been worn in the haystack by the tides and a small stream that went through the hole. The bridge was about 20 feet high and about that wide. It was also about that thick and the rock extended about 30 feet beyond the bridge. It will be a while before the bridge erodes away.
We spent the whole afternoon looking at the tide pools before the tide covered them up (We left before the tide got that high.) The rocks on the shoreline were worn down sea stacks with several large holes in them. The high tide left several large and many small pools in them. The large number of pools provided a lot of places to explore in a small area. We could explore for a couple of hours in a small area. Paul found some rather large crabs and tried to pick them up. They did not particularly like being picked up. We also found a lot of sea anemones and sea stars, both with a lot of color variation. There were also a number of small fish in the pools. We hopped from pool to pool, each one providing its own set of wonders. Finally, as the tide began to rise, we decided it was time to head back. These were the richest tide pools I have ever explored. Rialto Beach was a very nice stop.
True to its name, it was raining the day we went to the Hoh Rain Forest. The place also seemed deserted except for a few other visitors. We never saw a ranger in our time there. We spent a little time at the visitor center, looking at the well designed and informative exhibits. Then we took the Spruce Nature Trail because it looked like it was the most sheltered of the short trails there. We walked around the pond and up a hill, watching a blue heron feed. Each tree along the trail and at the top of the hill was covered with tons of moss. The trees also kept most of the constant drizzle off of us. I suppose that it would not have been as nice a walk in the bright sunlight; we would not have gotten as much of the rain forest effect. We also saw a number of "nursery logs." These are logs that have fallen and started to decay. They serve as a nursery and provide nutrients for flowers, sometimes grass, and new trees that grow out of the log. There is plenty of space to do that, since many of the logs are as thick as I am tall.
On the drive out we stopped at a meadow along the way that was filled with elk. There must have been at least 20 there. They would not walk up to us, of course, but they otherwise seemed unafraid of us. They grazed, really oblivious to us. The ages of the elk varied; there were a few young ones mixed in with the adults. The remainder of the drive was uneventful and we spent the remainder of a lazy afternoon reading and watching the rain.
It was a mixed day with respect to rain the next day. We were driving back to Port Townsend, but had a few stops along the way. The drive around the Olympic Peninsula was clear until we neared the coast. Once we hit Washington's north coast, the farther west we drove the cloudier it got. And the rainier. The scenery was outstanding. The pine covered hills before the coast were rolling. Once we got to the ocean the mountains rose up straight from the ocean. We had a pleasant drive along the coast, often driving well above the ocean, but sometimes dropping down to beach level. There were few towns along the way. Finally, we arrived at Neah Bay, the heart of the Makah reservation. We stopped at the Makah Cultural research Center, a museum containing a reconstructed Makah village that had been covered by a mud slide 500 years before. The research and reconstruction were fascinating. The tools for hunting and making the catch into something useful were very well preserved. The exhibits also covered more current aspects of the local culture. And the gift shop was extremely well stocked wit books and Native American art. After a couple of hours of wandering around the museum and absorbing what there was to learn, we headed out.
Of course the rain had increased a little while we were in the museum, but we were going to hike to the western most point in the lower 48 states anyway. We found the road to Cape Flattery and took it. The road turned bad very quickly, but we continued. Finally, we reached the trail head. The hike was about 2 miles total. It was downhill much of the way, but rose near the end. The trail was covered by thick, lush growth of trees and shrubs. It was too early for most wildflowers, but the skunk cabbage was in bloom. Its flowers are large, yellow and smelly. Very pretty. The view at the end of the trail makes the trip well worth it no matter what the weather. The surf pounds relentlessly on the 100-200 foot cliffs, eventually wearing them down. Tarboosh Island is visible off the shore. The seals and sea lions are audible, but not easy to see without binoculars. The cliffs are covered with brush and trees right up to the edge. The scene is very dramatic, and I would suppose, different with the weather you happen to encounter. The scene on that day reminded me of Shakespeare's 'The Tempest."
We returned to the car and, famished, to the Makah Maiden Cafe in Neah Bay. It sits right on the ocean, so we could watch the storm abate as we ate a great late lunch. And true to form, the farther east we drove on the return trip to Port Townsend the better the weather got. We arrived at Port Townsend in late afternoon sunshine.
The final destination on this trip was Hurricane Ridge. This being March, we knew that we would not hike there. We took the drive up from Port Angeles, leaving on a nice, cloudy but warm spring day. The plant growth at the edge of the city was a mixture of grassy meadows and pine or fir trees. By the time we had traveled up about 500 feet elevation wise to the Olympic National Park Visitor Center, the grassy flats had left us for trees. We looked around at the exhibits, which told us a lot about the area. Each of the visitor centers in the park was well put together. This one told about how the snow dominated the winter at the high elevation of the ridge and how the runoff each spring led to the thick growth of the forest. This led to a diversity of animals, birds and plants. Unfortunately, we would see little of this because of the snow still being there in depth!. But I am getting ahead of myself.
We encountered the first snow at about 3,000 feet. But before that, we encountered a youngish deer, who was as interested in us as we were in him. We stopped the car and got out and he kept coming closer, posing for us every time he stopped. Apparently the park's deer make too much of their living off of tourists. He was completely unafraid of us but was disappointed that we obeyed the signs about not feeding the animals. We continued our drive up the road, marveling at the views briefly (they would be better and easier to see as we descended) and noticing a few small waterfalls aw we went up the road. By the time we got to the top, where the lodge was, we could see little from the road. The snow was piled too high. We got out and climbed the snow piles to get a look at the views. The sawtooth ridges were softened by a coating of snow in some places, but in other places the crests had been blown free of snow. The white coating went about halfway down the ridges.
We went into the lodge and looked at the exhibits there. At this elevation and at this time of year, snow was a high focus. We read about avalanches and their causes. We read about how the snow melt leads to a plethora of wildflowers. We saw people take off for the snow board and ski areas, but we did not follow. Finally, we ordered a small lunch at the restaurant before we went back down the mountain. We went down slowly, stopping at a number of viewpoints along the way. Many had displays describing the view of the sound and of Victoria across the sound. We saw a number of snow birds like juncos and sparrows as well.
But finally this trip was over. The next morning we packed and took the ferry back to Seattle. We drove about 30 miles to get to the ferry and the ferry took us about 30 miles across to the mainland. After another night visiting friends we made our way back to Portland where we flew home.
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